Sorry fellas, yesterday I got hyperfocused on redesigning my blog's photography portfolio and when I had finished I was too tired to write results, oops
. Anyway, here they are - quite an underwhelming round at first, but plenty of these ended up growing on me.
Tomislav95
3 All that remains
First impression:
This song is kinda genericYeah this one isn't quite my cup of tea I'm afraid - it's just an alright combination of prog and alt rock. The melodies are kinda bland, the guitar tone is pretty generic, and the vocals are weak. Not a bad song by any means, just one I find pretty underwhelming on every aspect.
2.5/5TAC
Raphael And The Thorns As The Wheel Turns
First impression:
This song isn't resonating with meAnd seems it isn't with you either
. I wouldn't say it's an awful track though, it's just a bit underwhelming overall, despite having some interesting elements, like the use of strings and some cool vocal harmonies. It's actually on those small moments when I think it gets interesting, but the chorus is quite meh tbh. So it's just an alright song to me.
3/5Buddyhunter1
Sabrepulse First Crush
First impression:
This song has the electronicsAh yes, some nice and pretty chiptune - quite welcomed after such a harsh round
. It's quite a nice and fun little song, I dig the retro sounds used here a lot paired with the electronic drums. What I'm not that big a fan of is probably the overall melodies paired with the way the song is structured. Feels like background music to a youtube video on old games rather than a composition on its own if that makes sense. Wouldn't say it's cliched but for some reason it doesn't strike me as super original.
3.5/5lonestar
Ostura The Surge
First impression:
This song doesn't live up to the hypeI had this on my playlist right after TAC's, and that song ended with some similar piano notes to the ones this begins with. Cool transition there. Anyway, I was a little surpired to see you send me this, as I remember this album being quite hyped up around here a few years ago, so I was curious about it. I can kinda see why it's so loved from what this song has to offer, but I'm afraid it's not doing that much for me, as it reminds me of a lot of prog metal bands combined into one. I may have been quite more into it a few years ago though. But I really appreciate the unusual combination of sounds it has to offer, with the symphonic mixed with the metal mixed with the electronics, although these last ones are a little unoriginal tbh. So, while the ideas and execution here are mostly solid, I'm afraid I just have not much interest in this kind of music these days.
3.5/5Vmadera00
Sufi's Life Love Vibration
First impression:
This song is trippyPsytrance and similar are one of those genres I dig a lot but only on a few albums as plenty of what's out there is kinda derivative and filled with silly pseudospirituality. So I was quite intrigued by this song at first, as it hits some marks of what I like on this genre: trippy atmosphere, nice vibes, and hypnotic songwriting. Kinda reminds me of Shpongle but without the world music influence. It's quite a nice song, but I was expecting a bit more variety in terms of songwriting - it stays mostly on the same structure throughout its duration with only some small breaks to say "Love Vibration"
. It's pretty enjoyable anyway.
3.5/5kingshmegland
Dopapod Numbers Need Humans
First impression:
This song is funkyThis is a bit of a weird one, as for some reason the slightly dissonant chords here have a it of a "robotic" feel, yet the song is quite funky - I think it fits the theme quite well. I'm afraid I don't have much to say, it's a fun little song for sure, but for some reason it's not quite doing it for me as I'd like to. Maybe it's a bit too "robotic" for my taste, but I like weird algorithmic music so who knows
.
3.5/5wolfking
Owl Eyes Closure
First impression:
This song has a nice atmosphereYeah it's quite an interesting atmosphere as you said, plenty of 80s vibes here. It's pretty catchy and lovely, but like the Gunship song on this round, I feel it might be a tad too sweet and retro-sounding for my taste. I've heard plenty of synthpop at this point to know that it's quite hard to pull off without sounding unoriginal, so I don't mind it that much here. It's still an enjoyable listen.
3.5/5TheSoylentMan
Gunship When You Grow Up, Your Heart dies
First impression:
This song is a tad too sweetFor some reason I've never checked a Gunship album despite being familiar with some of the DT favs, like Tech Noir and Dark All Day. And now I'm not quite sure I'd be into them based on this track. It's a nice electronic pop song but it's probably a bit too on the sweeter side of things for my taste, and the lyrics are a little cheesy. It's very well produced and arranged, just not exactly my cup of tea.
3.5/5Stadler
Frankie Valli My Eyes Adored You
First impression:
This song is a little cornyQuite an oldie! Kinda reminds me of the music my dad listens to from time to time
. Anyway, it's a nice love song, even if a little corny, but it's quite well written and executed. I wished it had more of a proper ending instead of a fade out.
3.5/5Evermind
Green Carnation The Burden is Mine... Alone
First impression:
This song is kinda emoI'm just being silly about the emo thing, it's just that the song kinda reminded me stuff like Brand New's Jesus. So it's not a bad thing at all for me, I like depressing music. And this one is fine, it's mostly guitar and sad vocals, with the ocassional vocal harmony here and there. Works quite well, but it doesn't do much outside repeating a few chords over and over. Just a simple track.
3.5/5Cyril
McKinley Dixon Chain Sooo Heavy
First impression:
This song is jazzyI'm a little surprised by you sending me this, as I hadn't expected you to be into this. This is a cool mix of hip hop with jazz, reminds me of what Kendrick did on some songs in To Pimp a Butterfly. It's a pretty interesting song for sure, and quite a creative one - I feel that hip hop these days is where a lot of innovation is going on, I should get more into that. Yet, this track isn't resonating with me as much as I'd like to. I think it's the main melodies that just aren't that memorable to me, and the way he says "Chain so heavy" is kinda flat, and he says that a lot
. I'd be curious to hear more tracks in this vein though.
3.5/5Puppies_On_Acid
Elbow Magnificent (She Says)
First impression:
This song is quite niceYeah, I don't have much to say about this other than it's a pretty and lovely song. It's quite catchy, got a great use of strings paired with the simple guitars and the interesting vocals. I wasn't sure what to think about it at first but it's grown on me quite a bit tbh. Cool track.
4/5ReaperKK
Michael Kelsey The Free Spirit
First impression:
This song is intriguingDunno why you thought this would fit the generic first impression - sure at first it's a little like typical uuhhh indie folk music? But then it goes into a more interesting direction, with Michael really showing off his chops on the guitar, but never too much. It gets more and more intense as it goes on, and I'm surprised by the amount of variety this has to offer despite being just an instrumental guitar track (with some subtle strings here and there). Quite an intriguing piece, one that's grown on me quite a bit.
4/5Elite
Brad Mehldau The Prophet is a Fool
First impression:
This song has the right amount of saxThis reminds of a lot to The Comet is Coming, mostly with the sick sax playing here with that dirty, groovy bass. But this goes into a bit of a different direction, and I like it quite a bit. What I'm not a big fan of is the kinda surface-level political commentary here - although I agree with the message, it's just not the most clever of executions imo. At least it does take only a small part of the song.
4/5HOF
The Clientele Monday’s Rain
First impression:
This song is vaguely familiarI remember listening to this album many years ago when I was starting to get into music more seriously, and expanding outside of prog. For some reason I never rated it on RYM, and I don't remember a single note from it so I allowed it, maybe now I'd be able to appreciate it more. And I kinda do! It's quite a lovely, chill, atmospheric track. Kinda reminds me of a both The Beatles on their melodies and Low with the slower pace and minimal instrumentation. It manages a good balance between memorable vocals and interesting, more instrumentabl sections. I'll admit I wasn't blown away by it at first, but it's slowly grown on me, and now I'm looking forward to revisiting this stuff.
4/5Scores
Buddyhunter1 21
lonestar 20.5
Vmadera00 20
kingshmegland 19.5
HOF 19.5
wolfking 19
Puppies_On_Acid 19
TAC 18.5
TheSoylentMan 18.5
Stadler 18.5
Evermind 18.5
Cyril 18.5
ReaperKK 18.5
Elite 18.5
Tomislav95 18
Alright, send for round 6! Remember the
optional theme is prog - anything from the 70s to modern times is fine. Just be extremely careful, as this is not a genre I'm fond of these days, but there are still plenty of big names that I have never checked out, like Marillion, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Van der Graaf Generator, most of Yes' and IQ's discography, etc. And please don't send me Leprous or Rush - they're not banned, but I've given them plenty of chances in the past and they've never clicked with me